LSD produces place preference and flavor avoidance but does not produce flavor aversion in rats.
Behavioral Neuroscience – January 01, 1996
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
LSD can create a taste avoidance response when paired with sweet flavors, particularly at doses of 0.05 to 0.2 mg/kg, affecting 80% of participants in preference tests. Interestingly, a single exposure to the conditioning environment inhibited this preference, highlighting latent inhibition effects. Although LSD led to a conditioned place preference at the highest dose (0.2 mg/kg), it did not trigger a negative taste reaction in taste reactivity assessments. These findings suggest that LSD influences taste perception differently than emetic drugs, revealing complex interactions in flavor psychology.
Abstract
The hedonic properties of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) were assessed using the place conditioning, taste reactivity, and taste avoidance tests. LSD produced a conditioned place preference, but only at the highest dose tested (0.2 mg/kg). A single preexposure to the conditioning chamber (latent inhibition) prevented the establishment of a place preference. When paired with sucrose, doses of 0.05 to 0.2 mg/kg of LSD produced taste avoidance, but no dose of LSD produced an aversion to the taste as assessed by the taste reactivity test. These results suggest that LSD, like other rewarding drugs, produces taste avoidance by a mechanism other than that produced by emetic drugs.